We tend to think of muscle cars as an exclusively American phenomenon, but there is a fine tradition of British muscle cars, too.

And the Jaguar XKR-S is one of the muscliest. Under the bonnet lives a 5.0-litre, supercharged V8 engine producing 542bhp – the same as the legendary, 217mph XJ220 – and a noise that could wake the dead.

But is there more to the XKR-S than simple lairiness? Only Motors finds out.